This was the reason I started Suzie Mark Productions back in 1993, to produce family histories for private clients that would be produced with the high quality of a documentary you would see in film or on television. The idea was to preserve a family’s history by combining interviews with family photos and home movies, and we’re still doing that today.
Of course, this form can also be used to document the history of a business (great for marketing and new employee orientation), organization (great for publicity and fundraising), or anything else. It can also be long or short.
Take a look at these short samples to get a better idea of what can be done. The price of a documentary varies based on how many people need to be interviewed for the project and how much material (photos, videos, etc) needs to be gathered and prepared. The price starts at $750.
DOCUMENT AN EVENT
Do you have an event you would like to document on camera? If an event is worth putting on, then it’s a story worth telling. We love documenting events, incorporating what goes on with interviews by the organizers and participants. These short videos are handy to have to post on your website, on YouTube, or to distribute on DVD.
Here is a sample for an elementary school fundraiser called a Tri-R-Athon. It was a day long event summed up in a fun few minutes.
Here is another sample that is a bit longer for a competition called Canstruction LA. For more on this worthwhile organization that raises food, funds and awareness for the Los Angeles Food Bank, visit their website at www.canstructionla.com.
FAMILY HISTORY VIDEO
This is the reason I started Suzie Mark Productions in 1993. The prior year I decided I wanted to get all our family stories down on tape from the best sources so I interviewed my grandmother, great aunt, great uncle, parents, aunts, uncles, brother and cousins and combined the interviews with photos from the family albums and home movies and videos. The idea was to make it the same quality as TV shows or documentaries I had previously produced.
The result was the most satisfying project I have ever worked on, and had the most appreciative audience. Here is a short excerpt from my family documentary made back in 1992. Please note this was shot well before High Definition video was available so picture quality is much better today than it was then. However, you will get the idea of what these documentaries can be.